Thursday, August 6, 2015

Above and below LBC topic

This weeks topic is another in a somewhat similar vein provided by Maria of gaelikaa's diary in India. Above and below is open to many interpretations. Take statistics for example. There are several ways to compute an "average" - take the following list of numbers for example: 13, 18, 13, 14, 13, 16, 14, 21, 13

To most of us the average (mean) is obtained by simply adding the numbers and dividing that total by the number of values in the list. Thus (13 + 18 + 13 + 14 + 13 + 16 + 14 + 21 + 13) ÷ 9 = 15. 15 is the average (mean) but oops - it's not in the list but that's the way the mean crumbles.

But like many things the average can be spun to suit the argument involved - thus we can use the median - the middle value. 13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21 - 14 is the middle value. Hey - at least this average is in the list.
For the truly esoteric there's the mode - yet another statistical average - and it references the number that occurs most frequently in the list. That number is 13 and hey - it's in the list too.

The moral of the story? Here we have 3 answers to the same question. 15, 14 and 13. Know your numbers before accepting any statistical values quoted in any discussion. Statistics can be used to support darn near anything - any spin on a topic. That's why a single source for things is in my opinion not a smart thing to use/believe. Especially if a politician or newscaster is involved.

The Long And The Short

The Rough And The Smooth

Left And Right

Right And Wrong

Back To Back

This And That

Up And Down

Above And Below

The list above includes the to[pics this year that I believe have a similar theme. I think his tune covers most of the angles :

Do you suppose that if the captain realized there is more iceberg below the water than above the water the Titanic might not have sunk?? And how about this???That's a quick shack-take on this weeks LBC topic. Check out what the others have to say. they're listed over there on the right.